Putting the mass in communications.

Month: November 2015

Now that everyone is full from their Thanksgiving feast, the next thing on many people’s list is to get an early rise in the morning to buy discounted televisions and early Christmas shopping. Black Friday has always been portrayed as a great chance for consumers to spend their hard earned money on the material things they want, without having to break the bank. But this fun time is always takes a darker turn somewhere in the country, and usually ends with people getting into fist fight, anxiety, and even getting trampled to death. Cases like these makes me question why Black Friday is still as big as it is. Just a few years ago, I found out that there are other great sales that mirrors Black Friday with the same same benefit. Cyber Mondays, Small Business Saturday, and since being in San Antonio (we finally made it by the way), there’s even a Gray Thursday in central Texas. With all these special days where you can shop online from the house or avoid the heavy crowds, why would I want to go out at 6 a.m. and play The Hunger Games Walmart Edition?

So I am currently on my way to Texas with my family when life decided to happen. 8:36 pm in the middle of nowhere, Texas was when a big chunk of concrete laying on the highway too out two tires. No problem; it’s a rental car with insurance right? Wrong. We have to sit on the phone for 2 hours until we come to a negotiation for the rental company to send a cab to take us HALF way to our destination. Then to top off this night, a good civilian with a tow truck came by to see if we needed help. Nice guy. When we told him our cab was coming, he was about to be on his way only for his truck to be trapped in the mud long enough for us to pack our cab and head on our way. 11:24 with 120 miles to go. At least the cab driver is playing The Incredibles on the way.

So last night I went to go see the new James Bond film, Spectre. While I felt that the movie as a whole was a great addition to the series, what really hit me was just the familiarity everyone has with the character of James Bond. I never was interested in seeing his movies until the last movie, Skyfall, came out in 2012. However, many people have been avid fans of the character since Sean Connery started making appearances as him back in the 1960’s. In fact, there have been six different actors to portray Bond within six decades. With the relevance of this character, his portrayals have maintained the same “smooth” personality, with the main change being the time he is set in during his escapades. This presence throughout time has made the character of James Bond familiar to generations of people, likes the characters of Micky Mouse or Batman. And who doesn’t know where “shaken, not stirred” came from?